Legislators Ask Labor Secretary To Back Allentown Building

September 17, 1988|by TED MELLIN, The Morning Call

Officials and state legislators from Allentown were unsuccessful in getting a commitment yesterday from Harris Wofford, state secretary of labor and industry, to establish a Job Service Center on a vacant lot at 2nd and Hamilton streets.

Wofford said that although the Job Service is under his department's jurisdiction, it is up to the Department of General Services to select the site.

The Allentown Redevelopment Authority is suggesting that the two sites in the 2nd and Hamilton streets area might be developed to satisfy both the city and the state.

Wofford met with state Rep. John Pressmann, state Sen. Roy C. Afflerbach and Michael M. Rosenfeld, ARA executive director, to hear their views about the proposed office building. The meeting in Pressmann's Allentown office lasted more than an hour.

"We reiterated our support for the site recommended by the Redevelopment Authority," Pressmann said later. "The department repeated its commitment to havethe office in the city of Allentown.

"Mr. Wofford said he could not give us any kind of a commitment. He said he has to depend on the Department of General Services to give him a site tailored to what his needs are. General Services will make the final decision."

General Services is scheduled to receive new bids Oct. 6 for the Allentown facility. Rosenfeld asked that no action be taken to award a contract for 50 days so the authority can present its alternative proposal.

Wofford said that after nearly 10 years of delay in developing the 3.3- acre tract at the northwest corner of 2nd and Hamilton, it would seem appropriate to wait another 50 days.

The ARA is proposing using that site as well as an empty lot at the southeast corner of the intersection for developing the state office building.

Earlier this week, the authority agreed to offer the state the chance to develop a Job Service center and a parking lot at the northwest corner and a 1.3-acre parcel on the southeast corner.

Another option would be to have the state office building entirely on the smaller parcel.

Wofford said he looks upon the proposed Job Service Center in Allentown to be a model serving the unemployed, the disabled and those in need of training. He said its staff would work with other job-related agencies to provide "one- stop service."